The Power of Suggestion
by Tiana-P
Summary: Kono makes a casual observation about Danny and Mary Ann. Steve overreacts. Established Steve/Kono, with Steve/Danny bromance and Steve/Mary Ann sibling stuff.


_**A/N: Thank you all once again for all the amazing comments left on my last fic, and the adds, alerts and favourites! It means the world to me =D So, this was meant to be a short one shot, but as always, I got a bit carried away. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!**_

_**Once again, thanks to cm757 and Sidalee for their support and motivation and pushing me to keep going at this even as it got so, so long. Dedicated to you guys =D**_

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><p>It was all Kono's fault. If it hadn't been for her stupid comment, then the absurd idea would never have even crossed his mind.<p>

They had been sitting at the table that he had moved from the lanai out to the backyard of a beach for their dinner that evening with the rest of the team, Malia and Mary Ann. His sister had initially come for a short visit. Short as in 10 days. That had been over 3 months earlier. After finding herself a nice place a few blocks over, she had secured herself a job which not only paid well, but also kept her interested. It was enough to make her stay, and despite the possibility of her being put in danger again, Steve couldn't help but admit that he was happy to have her back again after 2 years.

Chin and Malia had left close to midnight, leaving the couple with Danny and Mary Ann, the latter two who had disappeared to retrieve some more beer from the kitchen. Kono had shifted her seat closer to his, pulling his arm tighter around her shoulders as she leaned in and lowered her voice as if to keep anyone else from overhearing. With the sound of ocean and no-one else around for miles, it wasn't necessary, but he would never deny close contact from his girlfriend. "Danny and Mary get along good, don't they?"

Steve eyed the two in question through the open doors, uncapping their drinks and laughing to some joke they were sharing. He downed the rest of his own beer, replacing the bottle onto the centre of the table, before replying. "Guess so," he shrugged, not sure where she was going with it. "You all get along good with Mary."

He felt her smile against his jaw as she brushed her lips across it and nuzzled her nose into his cheek softly. A small thought passed his mind, wondering if she had had perhaps a bit too much to drink before realising that a drunk Kono, hell even a _tipsy_ Kono, could handle herself better, revealing her frisky side when it was just the two of them or she was trying to entice him to take her home. _Then_ she became awfully affectionate and teasing. Not that he minded.

"That's true," she nodded, moving her mouth to whisper into his ear. "Not what I meant though."

"What did you mean?" Steve asked when she pulled away slightly to sit back in her seat and watched the two blondes walk across the sand away from them, undoubtedly having spotted them in a close embrace and decided to leave them alone. For once.

"C'mon, you don't see it?" Kono asked back in amusement, tugging gently on the hand that still hung over her far shoulder. There was a clear twinkle in her eye that he could see even in the faint light that the full moon granted them that night. "Their sense of humor, arguing about baseball, shared pleasure in teasing-slash-torturing you, equal appreciation for the mainland and you know, the obvious; they're kinda the same height. They'd be perfect for each other."

Steve stared after Danny and Mary where they had stopped by the water's edge. His partner's silhouetted hand gestures with his free hand indicated that they were having some argument which his sister's laugh, heard only faintly over the sounds of the water, told him she found whatever he was saying ridiculous. "Because they're the same height?" he repeated. He had meant it sarcastically, but the words with what he was seeing made him narrow his eyes at them when another thought came to him before turning his gaze back onto Kono. "Has Mary said something? Or Danny?"

She scoffed at that and he let out a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding. "No, of course not. I'm just saying; they'd make a cute couple. That's all." Steve merely nodded at the smile she added to her words, obviously not realising that her light-hearted comments had become anything but to him. The reassurance that he was sure he should feel from her calming smile never came and he wasn't sure why not exactly. "Anyway, I'm going to go to bed. Don't stay up too late, yeah?"

"Ok," he replied, accepting the kiss that she pressed to his lips before calling out a goodnight to the two on their way back up towards them. She was gone before they reached where he now sat alone.

The three of them stayed there for another hour, and the only reason why Steve hadn't excused himself was because of Kono's words replaying themselves in his head. Every little joke they now made, every time Mary Ann threw a pebble at Danny, every time they turned on him; all he could think of was what Kono had said. Somehow his mind neglected to factor in the fact that they were sharing the jokes with him, that Mary Ann was hitting him with her hand whenever he retorted back at her teasing, and that he was teaming up with her to turn on Danny.

When they had finally decided to call it a night, with Mary Ann taking her room for the night and Danny bunking on the couch, Steve still couldn't force the comments from the woman now peacefully sleeping next to him out of his mind. Unlike him, who was wide awake at 3am after a very tiring day of work and socialising. But her little comment had planted the seed that had bloomed into a full tree of possibilities, agony and plain disturbing scenarios (_marriage! kids!_) that kept his mind from switching off, because there was no way, _no way_, he was letting his sister date his partner.

...

"So, you and Mary were gone pretty early yesterday morning," Steve stated conversationally to his partner whilst driving them towards a local diner to pick up some lunch for the team. They had gotten a much needed day off in between their last case and this one. In that time, spanning over 36 hours, he had forced himself to push back every horrid thought that came to his mind when he recalled waking up the day before and seeing that Danny and his sister had vanished already.

"Yeah. Clearly the ability to enjoy a morning lie-in was somehow deleted from your family's genetics," he grumbled back and Steve glanced over at him to see him jab repeatedly at his cell phone in irritation. "Why would people get rid of buttons? Buttons were great. I could use buttons. This touch screen is useless!" Danny muttered out loud. Steve ignored it professionally.

"Where did the two of you go?" he asked instead, because he had somehow found the ability to resist calling the two of them up to demand their whereabouts immediately. He had found refuge in fixing up his dad's car after Kono had left him to go for a surf and meet up with some friends. After one too many failed attempts, he had given up and ventured over to her place. The look of surprise when she came back in the evening to find him in the kitchen making dinner was well worth the effort and numerous burns to his fingers because he had decided to be adventurous and make something he had never tried before. _Dessert,_ served up by Kono later that night, had been adventurous too.

There was a pause in which Danny let out a low growl before replying. "Who?" he practically snapped out, eyes fixated on his phone.

"You and Mary!" Steve's tone matched his partner's, trying to claim his attention back to the conversation that he really didn't want to have.

Danny looked taken aback by his abruptness. "Whoa, calm down. Sorry, I was slightly distracted by this piece of junk," he told him, shoving the offending object into his pocket. "We went to have breakfast and then I dropped her off home."

"Breakfast?" he asked sceptically. Danny raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes. You know, the most important meal of the day? Pancakes, eggs, sausages, bacon, _rice._" The added emphasis onto the last word came with a scoff, letting Steve know without words how ridiculous he still found the typical Hawaiian meal. "Breakfast. What's the big deal?" Danny asked in a mix of annoyance and interest.

Steve furrowed his brow and deflected slightly. "Why didn't you have breakfast at my place?"

"Because _Mary_ wanted a full loco moco, and you and I both know that when your sister wants something, she gets it. Which, you know, is rather annoying because having to do what you say all day is bad enough, and now I have to follow orders of the other McGarrett," he babbled with a hint of disgust, though Steve took no notice of it because there was also a small smile tugging at his lips. Small as in tiny, _really_ tiny, and it might have been a wry one too, but it was still there.

"You didn't have to," Steve pointed out.

The man in the passenger's seat turned to face him slowly. "Didn't you hear what I just said? I _did_ have to because your sister has some awful, _awful_ ways of making me cooperate. She's pure evil sometimes," Danny muttered incredulously whilst running an unconscious hand over his ever perfectly styled hair and Steve had to briefly wonder whether Mary Ann had used the same tactic of tugging on his hair like she use to use on him when they were younger to make him pay her attention.

"Do you like my sister?" Steve asked brusquely.

"Do I like-? Yeah, I like her. She's the lesser of two evils when it come to the two of you, and _she_ actually knows how to have fun," Danny informed him, hands flying from right to left, towards him and then over his own shoulder like he did when he got a bit too excited by something. Which was quite frequent with him.

He sighed heavily, willing himself to be rational and think this through before he let this emotions get the better of him. Calming his tone, he nodded once. "Do you wanna date her?"

_That_ stilled Danny's movements. "What? Wait, hold on. Just _hold on_ a second-"

"Answer the question, Danny," he cut him off before he got started on one of his long tirades that Steve knew would take a lot to stop once he got into it.

"No, I don't want to date her, Steven!" Danny practically spat out, enunciating each and every word which Steve assumed was for his benefit so there was no misunderstanding. His hands were back in action too. "What is wrong with you, huh? We have a meal together and you try to set us up? She's your _sister-"_

"Hey, hey, hey! I am _not_ trying to set you two up. I do not want you anywhere near my sister in that sense at all. Alright?" Steve told him sternly, holding out a finger to silence him and glaring at him for as long as he could without getting them into a serious car crash.

Danny sat back in his seat and stared out of the windscreen. "Alright," he replied and Steve couldn't help but to look back over at him

"You _do_ _not_ get to date Mary," he reiterated strictly.

"Alright! I said alright. I agree with you," Danny said rather loudly, to which he nodded acceptingly. "Do you want me to write it down? Sign it in my own blood?"

Gritting his teeth, Steve kept himself from retorting at his partner's dramatics. "No, this is fine."

"Fine," Danny bit out childishly, and when he spared him a glance at a red light, he knew there was more to come if the pursed lips were anything to go by. It was the calm before the storm. "Why can't I date your sister? Out of curiosity."

Steve fought the urge to groan. "Just."

"Am I not _good_ enough for her?" he asked touchily, eyes still focused in front of him as the lights finally turned green.

Accelerating the car down the street, Steve contemplated how to respond. "Would you let me date your sister?"

Danny scoffed before pointing a finger at him. "There's a big difference there. _I_ am great guy. A cop, who actually tries to stick to the law, which can I add is quite _impossible_ with you around, and follows proper procedure. You're a Neanderthal who simply attracts trouble and makes a new enemy on a daily basis," he ranted in explanation in which he never actually answered the question once again.

"So that's a no?" Steve clarified dryly.

"Yeah, that's a no. I'm still waiting for Chin to turn his shotgun on you. I dunno what he was thinking, allowing you to date Kono," Danny huffed and Steve had to admit, after having to entertain the possibility of Danny with Mary Ann and every horrifying thought that came with it, he was now wondering the same.

...

It was near 8:15am when he woke up to the sound of footsteps trudging heavily up the stairs, and with Kono curled up next to him and the intruder alarm not going off, there was only one other person who it could be. Sighing mentally as he willed his mind to switch off once again and not think about what could have happened, he turned onto his side to face his girlfriend, gently shifting where her head laid on his shoulder onto his arm as her arm around his waist tightened in her sleep. Steve was just about to join her, eyes fluttering close with ease, when his bedroom door was flung open.

He should have known better than to think that the matter was put to rest after his discussion with Danny. As a rule, his partner was a gossip unless sworn to secrecy. And that was Steve's first mistake. The desperation to leave their conversation in the car behind had meant he had allowed it to die into silence before pulling up at their destination with no promise to keep their talk between the two of them.

So when it took three days for Mary Ann to confront him, he was actually surprised. Not in a good way, of course, but surprised nonetheless. Though he guessed he could have put it down to the fact that their case had lasted three days, during which he doubted Danny took any time to seek out his sister and inform her of their recent agreement.

"What is your problem?" she snapped without any preamble and entering the room without any permission. Not that Steve expected her to ask for it, considering the door was unlocked. He just thanked god that he had gotten up in the middle of the night for some water and had pulled on some boxers and sweats otherwise it might have gotten embarrassing.

Steve rolled onto his back once again after Kono turned away with a groan and buried herself into the sheets on the other side of the bed. Peering at his sister standing with her arms crossed next to his side of the bed, he groaned too. "We're trying to sleep here, Mary," he muttered, running his hands over his face before pushing himself into a half-sitting position and sweeping a hand to the side to remind her that they weren't alone.

Her eyes visibly jumped from him to the woman in bed next to him, almost invisible under the cocoon she had created for herself, and back to him. The look of aggravation that had been gracing her features turned into one of exasperation as she unfolded her arms and took a small step back from the bed, much to Steve's relief. "Kono, you don't mind if I borrow my brother for a while, do you?" she asked in a forced calmer voice, but the underlying tone of anger was still there.

Kono pressed her face into her pillow, muffling her words. "No, go, take him. Just let _me_ sleep_,"_ she moaned, and Steve honestly couldn't blame her after the late night that they had had.

Shaking his head at her treachery, he exhaled deeply, knowing he had no choice if he didn't want to have the conversation in the bedroom and risk having to fend off two pissed off women. Because there was no doubt that he and Mary Ann were going to have this conversation right then, especially if the way she motioned for him to follow her out of the room was anything to go by.

"This is all your fault," he muttered even as he ran a tender hand over Kono's dishevelled hair before slipping out from under the sheets. His only reply was a small hum that he doubted she knew what she was answering to.

Picking up the t-shirt that he had discarded the night before, he tugged it on whilst padding down the hallway and down the stairs after his sister, making sure to close the bedroom door behind him. She was entering the back room when he reached the bottom landing.

"It's 8 in the morning, Mare. Couldn't you have picked a better time for this?" Steve asked her roughly, leaning against the desk that had been his father's opposite where she stood in the middle of the room.

Her deadpanned glare told him that she wasn't impressed, and it was funny to think that it was usually _him_ shooting _her_ that look at 8 in the morning. "I dunno. Couldn't you have picked a better discussion to have than that involving me dating Danny?"

"I-" Steve began, only to be cut off when it became clear that his sister didn't really want an answer but was just being dramatic. He really didn't appreciate the thought that passed through his mind about how similar that was to his partner.

"Where did you even _come up_ with that?" she asked him vehemently. He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up at her through his lashes as she carried on, ticking off a finger for each one of her points. "I don't spend that much time with him, I don't flirt with him, I don't text or call him unless necessary. You do all that more than I do!"

Steve's head snapped up. "I don't '_flirt'_ with Danny!" he argued, practically spitting out the word whilst frowning and crossing his own arms. Mary Ann rolled her eyes at him and leant back against the chair at the dining table behind her.

"You guys banter, argue, taunt, have some epic _bromance_ that no-one can't see. Whatever," she quickly dismissed with a sharp wave of the hand, regarding it as irrelevant. "My point _is_, it doesn't mean you want to date him, does it?" Pausing, Steve realised that this time, it wasn't a rhetorical question, but rather a fact she was pointing out in the form of one.

"Look, it was a talk. That's all," he told her before shrugging nonchalantly. "And no offence Mary, but he shouldn't have told you in the first place." The words had left his mouth before his brain could catch up with it to tell him what a bad idea that sentence was.

Mary Ann scoffed harshly, disbelief flashing in her eyes. "Of course he should have told me! It was _about_ me!" she exclaimed, speaking the last sentence slowly to emphasise her point. "And where do you get off telling people they can't date me? What, all of a sudden you think I can't handle myself? That dating a _cop_, and pretty damn good one at that, would somehow be a bad thing? It's Danny, for god's sake. If anything, you should be happy. At least you know him, right?" she threw at him with a smirk that Steve could only describe as spiteful.

He froze at the implications that were held by her words and uncrossed his arms in shock. "Wait, what are you saying? That you _want_ to date Danny now?" he asked hesitantly because if the answer was going to be affirmative, then he didn't actually want to know.

The way she rolled her eyes at him, frustrated that he wasn't coming to the same conclusions that she was, had been the same way since they were kids. "What I'm saying is that I _can_ and _will_ date whoever I want, whenever I want, and for whatever reasons I want."

Pursing his lips to keep himself from saying anything else stupid, Steve rested his free hands onto the desk on either side of him and stared at her momentarily. He couldn't argue that she did have a point because his sister was no longer a kid, or a teenager. He had missed out on the majority of her life where he could still pull this crap and not feel a hint of guilt about it.

But he couldn't, and _wouldn't_, tell her that. Because regardless of the fact that she wasn't a kid or teen, she was still _his_ baby sister and that gave him the right. Or so he told himself.

Sighing, Steve shook his head softly and shrugged. "It was a stupid conversation, alright? Just something that Kono said about the two of you that got stuck in my head and I needed to set it straight. That's all," he told her, hoping that telling her the truth about the root of his paranoia might help her leave well enough alone. Except it wasn't well enough for anyone but him right then. So no, she couldn't.

"Kono! Hey, there's something funny. Didn't Chin tell you to keep away from his little cousin? And you went ahead and decided to sleep with her anyway?" Mary Ann rebuked and if it had been anyone else, Steve was sure he would have hurt them by now. Subtlety had never been a part his sister's skill set, so he let it slide with a warning glare. "Because telling someone not to do something, Steven, only makes them want to do it more. Right?"

"Fine. I take it back. Do whatever you want," he retorted in the end, and he wasn't sure if it was her statement that made him realise that there was no way for him to make his sister do anything, or that it made him realise that perhaps reverse psychology was the key here. Either way, he was sure he wasn't going to win this battle of the wills, and ended up throwing an arm in the general direction of the front door. "You wanna date Danny? Go and date him."

Mary Ann chuckled dryly and pushed herself away from the chair. "You don't mean that."

"Of course I don't," he replied with a look of incredulity because she should know better than most that Steven J. McGarrett didn't change his mind that easily or quickly when he was passionate about something. And he was _very_ passionate about keeping his partner away from his sister.

She was quiet as she shifted on her feet and nodded. "You know, I've _never_ thought of Danny in that way. But hey, now that you've put the idea out there-" she began in all seriousness as she passed him to enter the front room once again. He followed her immediately, cutting her off.

"Don't you dare, Mary," Steve told her darkly in a tone that would usually have the other person following his order without a second thought. But she merely laughed it off, grabbed her bag from where she must have dropped it on the couch before opening the front door.

"Watch me!" she threw over her shoulder, slamming the door shut behind her and leaving him standing in the middle of the room alone.

Fighting the urge to scream or hit something, Steve used a method that he never thought he would and inhaled deeply before letting it out with the exasperation building up inside him. It worked to a certain degree; he no longer wanted to do anything but head back to bed.

Kono had emerged from the sheets she had wrapped herself in earlier since he had left, instead curling back up on her side and facing his empty space next to her. Her eyes were on him as soon as he entered the room, and he knew that she had heard everything despite the closed door.

Climbing into bed under the newly strewn sheets, Steve laid down on his back and ran his hands over his face. He could feel her watching him but he didn't know whether it was in sympathy or to chide.

The brush of her hand down his chest, coming to rest on his abdomen, told him it was the former. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him softly. "I didn't know you took it so seriously."

Lowering his hands, he covered hers with one before tucking the other behind his head. "Yeah, well, what did you expect?" he replied with a sigh, turning his head to look at her.

"Steve..." Kono trailed off, biting her bottom lip to hold back the smile that he could see forming very clearly, and he knew the chiding was coming. "You overreacted. It was a simple observation, late at night after a long day and a few beers. I say people make cute couples _all_ the time, you know that. Max and Lori, Kamekona and that waitress of his, you and Officer Sands. I'm never right. Well, apart from us," she added lightly, squeezing his fingers when they slipped in between hers, and yes, he did remember because he humoured her on more than one occasion with her theories, but it didn't help him much right then.

"You still said it," Steve reminded her before shaking his head and shifting to his side to face her. He curled his arm under her pillow, letting go of her hand to wrap his other arm around her waist and pull her closer. "I don't want to talk about it."

She began to pull away, pushing gently at his shoulder, before he could even shut his eyes completely. He groaned as he reluctantly loosened his hold. Somehow he knew his statement wouldn't have left the subject alone.

"Wait, Steve, c'mon. I get it. You're upset. But would it really be that bad of a thing if they _were_ to date?" Kono asked him, but he chose not to respond. Her insights were usually more effective in changing his mind, mainly because he paid more attention to her opposite views and actually considered them. "You've said it yourself; Mary's never had much luck with guys. At least this way you both know what she's getting into."

Blinking, he watched her watch him through kind eyes, but it didn't change anything. Steve shrugged with a single shoulder and closed his eyes. "I don't want to talk about this, Kono," he repeated, though he didn't try to tug her to him this time.

"What is it that makes your blood boil at the mere _thought_ of them together?" she questioned. Her fingers tapped against his jaw and he reached up to stop her out of irritation; grabbing her hand and pulling it down to rest in the space between them on the bed. "You know Danny would treat her right. He's caring, sweet, trusting, protective-"

"Do _you_ wanna date Danny, Kono?" Steve interrupted sarcastically and arched an eyebrow at her.

"Sometimes I wish I had," she sighed in a put upon way, as if her life would have been easier if she had decided to date Danny instead of him, but he smirked effortlessly because he knew that she loved him really.

When she remained quiet, Steve chanced a look in hopes that that was the end of the conversation so that they could get back to sleeping and he could put this all behind him until he had to see them again. Unfortunately, it just seemed as if she was waiting for that reaction to roll her eyes at him before carrying on.

"It's not like you don't _like_ Danny either, you kn-" Kono broke off, her mouth frozen half way through the last word and Steve could tell that she had just come to a realisation when she pushed herself up onto an elbow, hovering over him slightly. "Oh, God. That's it, isn't it? It's not that you don't think he'd be good for her; it's that you _know_ he _would_ be. You agree with me! And you don't want them to date because she's your little sister and he's your best friend, and- And-" she faltered, a frown playing on her mouth as she furrowed her brow in attempt to think of a reason that even Steve wasn't aware of. Finally, she shook her head and let out a breath, resting her chin on her palm as she stared down at him. "I have nothing. It seems like a win-win situation to me. "

"Yeah, you're right, it might be," he admitted slowly, pretending not to see the smug smile that graced her features at his words as he reached up a hand to thread through her hair and bring her to him. "But I still don't like it," he whispered curtly against her lips before pulling her into a chaste kiss.

"You do realise that this is all based on the hypothesis that they actually _do_ wanna date each other, right?" Kono pointed out after breaking away and settling back down next to him. Steve merely grunted in response, already tugging her into him. "Relax. I'm sure this'll all just be a bad memory sooner or later. And a laugh to the rest of us."

...

"I can't believe this is the second time in a week that I've woken up early, on my day off, because of _you_," Danny grumbled from the seat opposite her even as he smiled lightly. Mary Ann had a feeling that her brother wasn't that far off on the theory that the man whined and moaned about things merely due to the fact that he could.

"Get over it, Jersey," she laughed, twirling the straw in her orange juice as they waited for their breakfast in a local café, sitting outside in the warm sun. "You didn't put up a fight when I mentioned food."

"I didn't put up a fight because I _figured_ if you're offering to pay then I should jump on it, considering how many times I've had to shell out to keep Steve fed or hydrated or from doing manual labour to pay off his tab." Danny waved a hand around and she laughed again because she had heard the stories of Steve's frequently missing wallet many times before. "Besides, you're better company than no-one."

"Even if I call you at 9 in the morning on your day off?" Mary Ann teased.

Danny nodded with a small pout. "Even if you call at 9 in the morning on my day off," he repeated before sighing and she knew what was coming next. "So how did you leave Steve then? A few bruises? Couple of broken ribs? Oh, did you poke him? He _really_ hates it when people poke him," he listed, jabbing at the air with his index finger and grinning with glee in the end because they both knew that if anyone was to purposely push Steve to the edge by annoying him, it was Mary Ann.

"Nah. The state of Hawaii needs their taskforce's fearless leader to be in one piece to carry out his crazy plans, you know?" she told him, to which Danny quirked his head to the side in silent yet sceptical agreement. "We just talked. _Loudly_, but talked."

"And?" he prompted her, knowing that the story wasn't yet complete.

Sipping her juice, she shrugged. "Nothing, really. I told him he had no right in the matter and that if we wanted to date, we could, because it's none of his business who I decide to see or what I decide to do with them." Mary Ann decided to leave out the ending of their argument out of relativity.

"Uh-huh" Danny commented, not impressed by her words. "He's not going leave it alone, no matter what you say or do. Like this, right here, right now? Having breakfast together again? When he finds out about it, he will _shoot_ me."

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics before leaning in over the table and dropping her voice to a husky whisper. "Well, I guess we best keep it to ourselves then, Danno."

"What have I said about calling me 'Danno'?" Danny asked exasperatedly with a frown.

"Sorry, Jersey," she apologized, having also heard the stories about why only Grace is allowed to call him that, and that he's given up on trying to stop Steve, hoping he'll quit one day out of boredom. Mary Ann hadn't had the heart to tell him that he wouldn't. Ever.

"And don't call me 'Jersey' either!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"I have to call you something!" she replied in the same tone, not bothering to hold back a smirk at his predictable response.

"Try 'Danny'. And hey, isn't that a funny coincidence? That's my name, too!" Danny said with fake-surprise lining his words.

"Sorry, _Danny_," Mary Ann corrected herself with extra emphasis on his name. "Though your name is really 'Daniel'," she added, and she thanked god that the waiter came with their meals at that precise moment to keep him from rebuking.

Shooting him a cheeky smile, she wasn't too happy to find herself on the receiving end of his rant about names, nicknames and social politeness about using said nicknames the moment the waiter left. What was worse was that she couldn't resist adding the small teasing remarks here and there, intentionally sending him into another spin for her own entertainment. Mary Ann had to admit; she was a sadist sometimes.

Why else would she be having breakfast with the one man her brother would have an actual aneurysm about?

* * *

><p><em><strong>To explain, the idea of Danny and Mary Ann came to me in 2x17, in that scene where Danny was asking Kono about dinner. Their height difference made me smile, and then I remembered that Mary Ann and Steve have this height difference too, and bam! This fic came out of it.<strong>_

_**Anyways thanks for reading! =D Lemme know what you think, please?**_


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